The original version had a top speed of 407 km/h (253 mph).[4] It was named Car of the Decade and best car award (2000–2009) by the BBC television programme Top Gear. The standard Bugatti Veyron also won Top Gear's Best Car Driven All Year award in 2005.

The current Super Sport version of the Veyron is recognised by Guinness World Records as the fastest street-legal production car in the world, with a top speed of 430.9 km/h (267.7 mph),[5] and the roadster Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse version is the fastest roadster in the world, reaching an averaged top speed of 408.84 km/h (254.04 mph) in a test on 6 April 2013.[6][7]

The Veyron's chief designer was Hartmut Warkuss, and the exterior was designed by Jozef Kabaň of Volkswagen, with much of the engineering work being conducted under the guidance of engineering chief Wolfgang Schreiber.

Several special variants have been produced. In December 2010, Bugatti began offering prospective buyers the ability to customise exterior and interiors colours by using the Veyron 16.4 Configurator application on the marque's official website. The Bugatti Veyron was discontinued in late 2014.[8][9]

In 1998, the Volkswagen Group purchased the trademark rights on the former car manufacturer Bugatti in order to revive the brand.[10] Starting with the Bugatti EB118, they presented at various international auto shows a total of four 18-cylinder concept cars. At the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show, the first study of the Veyron was presented.[11] At the time, the name of the concept car was "Bugatti Veyron EB 18.4," and it was equipped with a 3-bank W18 engine instead of the 2-bank W16 engine of the production version. While the three previous prototypes had been styled by Giugiaro, the Veyron was designed by the Volkswagen stylists.

The decision to start production of the car was taken by the Volkswagen Group in 2001. The first roadworthy prototype was completed in August 2003. It is identical to the later series variant except for a few details. In the transition from development to series production considerable technical problems had to be addressed, repeatedly delaying production until September 2005.[12]

A controversy developed in 2013 over the Veyron Super Sport's status as the world’s fastest production car, ultimately resolved in the Veyron's favor.

In early April 2013, driving.co.uk (also known as Sunday Times Driving) began an investigation following claims from US car maker Hennessey that its 928 kW (1,244 bhp) Hennessey Venom GT was entitled to the Guinness World Record. With a recorded speed of 427.6 km/h (265.7 mph) the Hennessey was 3.4 km/h (2.1 mph) slower than the Veyron but Hennessey dismissed Bugatti’s official record saying that the Veyron Super Sport was restricted to 415 km/h (258 mph) in production form and that for it to achieve its record top speed of 431.0 km/h (267.8 mph), the car used was in a state of tune not available to customers. Hennessey said its Venom GT was road-ready and unmodified and was therefore a production car in the strict sense of the term.[15]

Driving.co.uk requested clarification from Guinness World Records, which investigated this claim and found that the modification was against the official guidelines of the record. Upon finding this, Guinness World Records voided the Super Sport's record and announced it was "reviewing this category with expert external consultants to ensure our records fairly reflect achievements in this field."[16]

After further review, Shelby SuperCars, the producers of the Ultimate Aero TT, said that they had reclaimed the record,[17] however Guinness reinstated the Super Sport's record after coming to the conclusion that "a change to the speed limiter does not alter the fundamental design of the car or its engine."[18]

The transmission is a dual-clutch direct-shift gearbox computer-controlled automatic with seven gear ratios, with magnesium paddles behind the steering wheel and a shift time of less than 150 milliseconds, built by Ricardo of England rather than Borg-Warner, who designed the six speed DSG used in the mainstream Volkswagen Group marques. The Veyron can be driven in either semi-automatic or fully automatic mode. A replacement transmission for the Veyron costs just over US$120,000.[19] It also has permanent all-wheel drive using the Haldex Traction system. It uses special MichelinPAXrun-flat tyres, designed specifically to accommodate the Veyron's top speed, and cost US$25,000 per set.[19] The tyres can be mounted on the rims only in France, a service which costs US$70,000.[19]Kerb weight is 1,888 kilograms (4,162 lb).[20] This gives the car a power-to-weight ratio, according to Volkswagen Group's figures, of 530 PS (390 kW; 523 bhp) per ton.

It has a drag coefficient of Cd=0.41 (normal condition) and Cd=0.36 (after lowering to the ground),[22] and a frontal area of 2.07 m2 (22.3 sq ft).[23] This gives it a drag area, the product of drag coefficient and frontal area, of CdA=0.74 m2 (8.0 sq ft).

German inspection officials recorded an average top speed of the original version of 408.47 km/h (253.81 mph)[4] during test sessions on the Ehra-Lessien test track on 19 April 2005.

This top speed was equalled by James May on Top Gear in November 2006, at Volkswagen Group's private Ehra-Lessien test track. May noted that at top speed the engine consumes 45,000 litres (9,900 imp gal) of air per minute (as much as a human breathes in four days). Back in the Top Gear studio, co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson commented that most supercars felt like they were shaking apart at their top speed, and asked May if that was the case with the Veyron at 407 km/h (253 mph). May responded that the Veyron was very controlled, and only wobbled slightly when the air brake deployed.[25]

The car's everyday top speed is listed at 343 km/h (213 mph). When the car reaches 220 km/h (140 mph), hydraulics lower the car until it has a ground clearance of about 9 cm (3.5 in). At the same time, the wing and spoiler deploy. In this handling mode, the wing provides 3,425 newtons (770 lbf) of downforce, holding the car to the road.[21]

Top speed mode must be entered while the vehicle is at rest. Its driver must toggle a special top speed key to the left of their seat, which triggers a checklist to establish whether the car and its driver are ready to attempt to reach 407 km/h (253 mph). If so, the rear spoiler retracts, the front air diffusers shut, and normal 12.5 cm (4.9 in) ground clearance drops to 6.5 cm (2.6 in).

Prototypes have been subjected to repeated 1.0 g braking from 312 km/h (194 mph) to 80 km/h (50 mph) without fade. With the car's acceleration from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 312 km/h (194 mph), that test can be performed every 22 seconds. At speeds above 200 km/h (120 mph), the rear wing also acts as an airbrake, snapping to a 55° angle in 0.4 seconds once brakes are applied, providing an additional 0.68 g (6.66 m/s2) of deceleration (equivalent to the stopping power of an ordinary hatchback).[21] Bugatti claims the Veyron will brake from 400 km/h (250 mph) to a standstill in less than 10 seconds, though distance covered in this time will be half a kilometre (third of a mile).[21]

The targa top Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport version of the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 was unveiled at 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.[32][33] It has extensive reinforcements to compensate for the lack of standard roof,[34] and small changes to the windshield and running lights. Two removable tops are included, the second a temporary arrangement fashioned after an umbrella. The top speed with the hardtop in place is the same as the standard coupé version, but with the roof down is limited to 369 km/h (229 mph)—and to 130 km/h (81 mph) with the temporary soft roof. The Gran Sport edition was limited to 150 units, with the first 50 going exclusively to registered Bugatti customers. Production began in the second quarter of 2009, with the car priced at €1.4 million (excluding taxes and delivery).

A version was introduced at the Qatar Motor Show 2012 with a horizontal colour split with a bright yellow body framed in visible black carbon (including black-tinted wheels), seats in yellow-coloured leather upholstery with black stitching, middle console in black carbon, dashboard, steering wheel and gearshift made of black leather with yellow stitching.[35] It was priced at €1.58 million.

The Soleil de Nuit was first shown at the 2009 Dubai Motor Show. It combines polished aluminium accents with metallic blue/black paint. It also features a burnt orange interior. It was sold for US$2.27 million.[36]

The Grey Carbon was first shown to the public at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The exterior features exposed carbon-fibre with metallic dark grey aluminum body panels, and lower portion in polished aluminium. Only one Grand Sport Grey Carbon edition was made.[37]

The Royal Dark Blue was shown alongside the Grey Carbon at Geneva 2010. It features a carbonfibre monocoque and the bonnet and rear section finished in Royal Dark Blue, hence the name. The rest of the car is painted Arctic White. It sold for €1.75 million.[38]

The Sang Blanc was designed at the request of a client from the UK. It is finished in a matte pearlescent white with black front grille, exhaust and engine cover, as well as a black interior.[39] In 2011, the Sang Blanc was sold with 448 miles on the odometer for £1.25 million.[40]

The Matte White was first shown at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show. It features a matte white paint finish, with the lower section of the car finished in blue carbon fibre. The interior is also blue. It was sold soon after it was put on display.[41]

The Red Edition was shown at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, with a red body, interior and wheels. It is thought Bugatti brought this car to Frankfurt to speed up purchases of the Grand Sport, as the sales figure was disappointingly low.[44]

Three different ‘Middle East Edition’ cars were shown at the 2011 Dubai Motor Show. The first car combines a bright yellow exterior and interior with black carbon fibre inserts and black wheels. The second has a blue carbon framed exterior with polished aluminium and an orange interior. The final edition features a green carbon finish, once again framed with polished aluminium. The yellow model sold for €1.58 million, while the other two were sold for €1.74 million.[45]

The Wei Long was first shown at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show, built to honor the Chinese year of the Dragon. As in the case of the Veyron L'Or Blanc, Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur provided several porcelain motifs. Most of the pieces depict a dragon and are featured on the body and in the cabin. The car has a pearl white exterior with contrasting carmine red interior and dragons in various places. It was sold for €1.58 million.[46]

The Barnar Venet edition is the result of a 2012 invitation from Bugatti to artist Bernar Venet to create an artwork to be applied to a Veyron Grand Sport. The finished work, described as "the fastest artwork ever", features an interpretation of Venet's trademark mathematical equations and was revealed at the Rubell Family Collection in Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach.[47]

The chassis 001 of the 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport was sold at the 58th annual Pebble Beach Auction presented by Gooding & Company for US$2.9 million (US$3.19 million after buy premium), benefiting the Pebble Beach Company Foundation.[48][49]

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is a faster, more powerful version of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. Production is limited to thirty units. The Super Sport has increased engine power of 1,200 PS (880 kW; 1,200 bhp), a torque of 1,500 N·m (1,100 lbf·ft), and a revised aerodynamic package.[50] The Super Sport has a 431.072 km/h (267.856 mph) top speed, making it the fastest production road car on the market[3][51][52] although it is electronically limited to 415 km/h (258 mph) to protect the tyres from disintegrating.[50]

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport World Record Edition is a version of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. It is limited to five units. It has an orange body detailing, and a special black exposed carbon body.[53]

The vehicle was unveiled in 2010 at The Quail, followed by the 2010 Monterey Historic Races at Laguna Seca, and the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.[54]

The Sang Noir was introduced as a show car at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show for customers who did not like the look of the ‘World Record Edition’. It is finished entirely in black, except for the interior, which is bright tangerine orange. The car costs a very high US$3.4 million, US$1 million more than a standard Super Sport.[56]

On 4 July 2010 James May, a television presenter on BBC Two's television show Top Gear, drove the Veyron Super Sport at 417.61 km/h (259.49 mph). Later that day, Bugatti's official test driver Pierre Henri Raphanel drove the Super Sport version of the Veyron on Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien (near Wolfsburg, Germany) high-speed test track to establish the car's top speed. With representatives of the Guinness Book of Records and German Technical Inspection Agency (TÜV) on hand, Raphanel made passes around the big oval in both directions achieving an average maximum speed of 431.072 km/h (267.856 mph), thus taking back the title from the SSC Ultimate Aero TT as the fastest production vehicle of all time.[5] The 431.072 km/h mark was reached by averaging the Super Sport's two test runs, the first reaching 427.93 km/h (265.90 mph) and the second 434.20 km/h (269.80 mph).[57]

On 9 April 2013 the Title of "Fastest Production Car in the World" was revoked due to the deactivation of the electronic speed limiter which makes the car non stock, going against the rules of the title.[58] Later, Bugatti’s speed record has been restored. "Following a thorough review conducted with a number of external experts, Guinness World Records is pleased to announce the confirmation of Bugatti’s record of Fastest production car achieved by the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. The focus of the review was with respect to what may constitute a modification to a car’s standard specification. Having evaluated all the necessary information, Guinness World Records is now satisfied that a change to the speed limiter does not alter the fundamental design of the car or its engine."[59][60]

A number of special editions of the Vitesse were made. The Vitesse SE, inspired by Bugatti Type 37A, was unveiled in 2012 and sold for €1.74 million (US$2.2 million).[65][66][67] The World Record Car (WRC) Edition was limited to 8 units, debuted in 2013, and went on sale for €1.99 million.[68][69][70]

A Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse driven by the Chinese racing driver Anthony Liu at Volkswagen Group's proving grounds in Ehra-Lessien became the fastest open-top production sports car, with speed of 408.84 km/h (254.04 mph). The vehicle was unveiled in Shanghai Motor Show 2013.[69]

After the world record attempt, Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S, said “When we introduced the Vitesse, we established the top speed for open-top driving to be 375 km/h. Still, we could not let go of the idea of reaching the 400 km/h mark with this car as well. The fact that we have succeeded in reaching 408.84 km/h is a thrill for me, and it reaffirms once again that Bugatti is the leader when it comes to technology in the international automotive industry." The driver, Anthony Liu, claimed "Even at such high speeds it remained incredibly comfortable and stable. With an open top, you can really experience the sound of the engine and yet even at higher speeds I did not get compromised by the wind at all.”[68]

As of 6 August 2014, 405 Veyrons have been produced and delivered to customers worldwide, with orders have already been placed for another 30. Bugatti was reported to produce 300 coupes and 150 roadsters up to the end of 2015.[77]

In 2008, Bugatti then-CEO Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen confirmed that the Veyron would be replaced by another high-end model by 2012.[78] In 2011, the new CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer revealed that the company was planning to produce two models in the future — one a sports car-successor to the Veyron, the other a limousine known as the Galibier.[79]

In 2014 Dr Schreiber said that the next Veyron will have no more power and no higher top speed than the current model.[80]

All three presenters of the popular BBC motoring show Top Gear have given the Veyron considerable praise. While initially skeptical that the Veyron would ever be produced, Jeremy Clarkson later declared the Veyron "the greatest car ever made and the greatest car we will ever see in our lifetime". He also pointed out that the actual production cost of a Bugatti Veyron car was £5 million, but was sold to customers for just £1 million. When asked why, he jokingly said that Volkswagen designed the car merely as a "Technical Exercise". James May described the Veyron as "our Concorde moment." Clarkson test drove the Veyron from Alba in northern Italy to London in a race against May and Richard Hammond who made the journey in a Cessna 182 aeroplane.

A few episodes later, May drove the Veyron at the VW test track and took it to its top speed of 407.16 km/h (253.00 mph). In series 10, Hammond raced the Veyron against the Eurofighter Typhoon and lost. He also raced the car in Series 13 against a McLaren F1 driven by The Stig in a one-mile (1.6 km) drag race in Abu Dhabi. The commentary focused on Bugatti's "amazing technical achievement" versus the "non-gizmo" racing purity of the F1. While the F1 was quicker off the line and remained ahead until both cars were travelling at approximately 200 km/h, the Bugatti overtook its competitor from 200 to 300 km/h and emerged the victor. Hammond has stated that he did not use the Veyron's launch control in order to make the race more interesting.

The Veyron also won the award for "Car of the Decade" in Top Gear's end of 2010 award show. Clarkson commented "It was a car that just rewrote the rule book really, an amazing piece of engineering, a genuine Concorde moment". When the standard version was tested, it did not reach the top of the lap time leader board, with a time of 1:18.3, which was speculated as being due to the car's considerable weight disadvantage against the other cars towards the top. The Super Sport version - driven by The Stig - achieved the fastest ever time of 1:16.8 (later beaten by the Ariel Atom V8, the McLaren MP4-12C, the Pagani Huayra, the BAC Mono, the Lamborghini Aventador, and the Lamborghini Huracán),[89] as well as being taken to a verified average top speed of 431 km/h (268 mph) by Raphanel on the programme,[90] thenceforth retaking its position as the fastest production car in the world.[91][92][93]

In 2011, Martin Roach's book Bugatti Veyron: A Quest for Perfection – The Story of the Greatest Car in the World[94] took the stance that the car had now become so famous that it is effectively a bona fide 'celebrity'. The book follows its author as he attempts to track down and drive the car, along the way interviewing chief designers, test drivers, and the president of Bugatti.

Gordon Murray, designer of the McLaren F1 (which for many years was the fastest production car ever built) said the following about the Bugatti Veyron in UK auto magazine Evo during its development period:

The most pointless exercise on the planet has got to be this four-wheel-drive thousand-horsepower Bugatti. I think it's incredibly childish this thing people have about just one element - top speed or standing kilometre or 0–60. It's about as narrow minded as you can get as a car designer to pick on one element. It's like saying we're going to beat the original Mini because we're going to make a car 10mph faster on its top speed - but it's two foot longer and 200 kilos heavier. That's not car designing - that just reeks of a company who are paranoid...

Murray later brought up and criticised Volkswagen for "scamming" car buyers in the 1990s for buying the cheapest parts possible for the production of Jettas and Golfs, allowing Volkswagen to make a larger profit off their car sales, funding the construction of the Bugatti Veyron. However, Murray was impressed with the Veyron's engine and transmission after he test drove one for Road and Track magazine.[96]

^ ab"Staff change at Škoda Auto design department" (Press release). Škoda-Auto.com. 10 December 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2009. Jozef Kaban . . . Commissioned by the Volkswagen Group, he became responsible for developing the design of the Bugatti Veyron in 1999, and then worked in that position from the time of the first sketches until the point of launching mass production.

^"Pierre Veyron". bugatti.com. Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. 30 November 2011. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012. The zenith of Veyron’s racing career was his victory together with Jean Pierre Wimille in the 25-hour Le Mans race of 1939.

^Hudson, Paul (18 October 2010). "Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport review". The Daily Telegraph (UK). Retrieved 1 November 2010. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is officially the world’s fastest production car, after reaching 431.072 km/h (267.856mph) at the VW group's Ehra-Lessien test track on 3 July. Watched by independent testers and a Guinness Book of Records representative, Bugatti test driver Pierre-Henri Raphanel recorded two runs in opposite directions, reaching 265.905mph and 269.806mph respectively. The new record is an average of the two.